People with long-term health problems in Scotland may benefit from a £6 million scheme to help them manage their condition.
The Self Management Fund, which has already invested £5.75 million in 81 projects, will offer a further £2 million a year for three years.
Public health minister Michael Matheson said: "We are changing the way care is delivered in Scotland. We are moving from a system where people rely heavily on NHS services to one where they are in control of their own care.
"We are funding projects that help patients provide and receive support from others who have long-term conditions, alongside the support of health and social care professionals. This makes it easier for people to manage their own conditions and to have more control over their care, their conditions and their lives.
"Hospital stays are now the shortest on record and we want to keep it that way. When people manage their long-term health conditions effectively it can reduce the need for emergency intervention.
"Projects such as these not only mean people live longer, healthier lives, they also protect NHS resources."
Funds have already been directed to projects such as No Strings Attached, a music scheme that taught people with asthma to manage their condition by playing wind instruments, the Post Natal Depression Support Network, which developed a service for women in rural Aberdeenshire, and the Angus Cardiac Group which received funds to help more than 400 people with long-term conditions.
